A household appliance which many people do not think about, but operates all day long, is the hot water heater. Whether electrically operated or gas-fired, these hot water heaters keep a large supply of water at a constant elevated temperature whether anyone is home or awake to use it or not. Many users resort to the use of solar water heaters to heat water using the free energy from the sun.
While such solar water heaters do work, they are not very efficient and often require the supplemental use of conventional water heaters as well. Accordingly, there exists a need by which the efficiency of solar water heaters can be raised in order to lower the overall energy use and save operating costs. The development of the solar collection system for a hot water tank fulfills this need.
Various attempts have been made to provide solar energy gathering system for water heating. Examples of these attempts can be seen by reference to several U.S. patents. U.S. Pat. No. 3,939,819, issued in the name of Minardi, describes a solar radiant energy collector. This patent discloses a solar energy collector having transparent tubing to allow for the heating of a dark colored liquid. This patent does not disclose an energy collector to affect heat transfer into water contained within tubing submerged within a darkened, solar energy transferring fluid and then plumbing the water into holding tanks incorporated into an existing water system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,047,518, issued in the name of Anderson, describes a solar heating cell. This patent discloses a solar cell for the heating of a darkened liquid to deliver heat to a heat storage medium arranged in the interior of a structure. This patent does not disclose an energy collector to affect heat transfer into water contained within tubing submerged within a darkened, solar energy transferring fluid and then plumbing the water into holding tanks incorporated into an existing water system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,706, issued in the name of Passarelli, describes an energy collector and transfer apparatus. This patent describes a solar energy collector that utilizes a darkened liquid to transfer solar energy to a gaseous substance which is then compressed into a liquid state, thus increasing its temperature. The now liquid substance can now be used to heat a third medium, such as water for a water system. This patent does not disclose an energy collector to affect heat transfer into water contained within tubing submerged within a darkened, solar energy transferring fluid and then plumbing the water into holding tanks incorporated into an existing water system.
While these systems fulfill their respective, particular objectives, each of these references suffer from one (1) or more disadvantages. Many such devices are not suited for heating water for a hot water system without the use of an intermediate gaseous medium that is later compressed to a liquid. Accordingly, there exists a need for a solar energy collector system without the disadvantages as described above. The development of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional solutions and in doing so fulfills this need.